


Baby, It's Cold Inside

by simplyambyy



Series: A Celebration of Buddie [4]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: AKA the episode with the Ice Skating Rink, Cold, Freezing Hands, Ice Skating, Ice Skating Arena, M/M, Reference to Canon-level violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21677404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplyambyy/pseuds/simplyambyy
Summary: "It's freezing," Buck said, shivering as he slid into his seat, Eddie sitting down next to him."Well," the older man started. "You decided to go style over warmth at an ice arena.""It's freakin' LA. I didn't think it'd be like the Arctic North."
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: A Celebration of Buddie [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1562698
Comments: 12
Kudos: 183





	Baby, It's Cold Inside

"It's freezing," Buck said, shivering as he slid into his seat, Eddie sitting down next to him.

"Well," the older man started. "You decided to go style over warmth at an ice arena."

"It's freakin' LA. I didn't think it'd be like the Arctic North."

Eddie chuckled at the disgruntled look on Buck's face, shaking his head and taking in the space around them. 

"Christopher would've loved this. I'm definitely bringing him here next time," Eddie said, changing the subject. 

The two were at the Los Angeles Ice Theater, the same theater where the duo had to hunt for severed fingers while the paramedics team dealt with the blade of a skate embedded into the chest of a skater just weeks earlier. As a thank you to the firefighters, the 118 received a handful of tickets to a free show of their choice, all of which went to the members of the firehouse with kids and/or spouses. 

Somehow, it ended up being Buck that went with Eddie instead of Christopher who had gone to a make-up sleepover. The little guy was very torn over whether he wanted to go to the show with his dad or hang out with the friends he made at school, but once Eddie promised to take him on another day, Christopher was his normal happy self again.

Though the show was to start any minute, Buck began to flip through the colorful show booklet, skimming the words and taking in the photographic stills from the show.

"I think those were the skaters from the accident. The two that were in a relationship, not the one that, y'know..." Buck left go of the book with one hand and held up his hand with four of his fingers half-way folded down.

Eddie leaned in closer to him with his elbow on the back of Buck's seat, taking in picture of two skaters doing a difficult lift. It was definitely the couple that nearly died because of a stray sequin.

"It's a shame we won't be able to see them perform tonight. It would've been nice to see their performance, especially since she was recruited for 'Disney on Ice.'"

Eddie didn't move back, instead he readjusted himself so his arm laid stretched out over the back of the chair. Buck turned in his seat so he faced his best friend better. 

"Ooh, I wonder if she took the job with Disney."

Eddie shrugged. "I mean, it'd be dumb not to. It's _Disney_. Even her boyfriend said that she should do it, even if it meant breaking up with him."

Buck grew quiet for a moment, pondering something. Eddie knew that look. Unfocused eyes, the way Buck drew the side of his bottom lip in his mouth to chew on it. He wanted to say something, but wasn't exactly sure how. Eddie was patient, though, and would give his best friend all the time he needed.

"If another fire department wanted you to join their firehouse, say, like, in Texas, if they were offering you more money, would you go?"

Eddie wanted to say no. He wanted to squash any of Buck's fears about him leaving, but honestly, he wasn't exactly sure. His head said no and his heart said no, but in actuality, he was struggling a bit financially. The rent wasn't cheap and neither was the tuition for Christopher's special school that he definitely needed. The truck he bought when he was being dumb and illegally fighting was a gas guzzler and he probably should try selling it for a more practical car, but that sounded like more work than it was worth. The money he received from Shannon's death helped, but he really didn't like having to tap into that money. It felt wrong. 

Just as Eddie was about to say something, say anything to get rid of the downhearted look on Buck's face, the arena's lights dimmed while the lights above the rink grew brighter. The music started as a hush fell over the crowd and Buck turned back towards the center rink.

It wasn't until ten minutes into the show that Eddie started to relax, his mind pushing Buck's question to the side as he watched the performers begin their re-imaging of the classic 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' story. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to the blond when the show was over, but for now, he was going to enjoy this.

Halfway into the performance, Buck started to shiver every few minutes as a random chill would run down his spine. With his arm still around the back of the other man's chair, Eddie began to slowly rub his hands against Buck's arms, trying to use friction to warm him up without causing too much of a distraction to the others around them.

Thankful, Buck titled his head back, resting it on Eddie's shoulder for a moment before sitting back up. 

While the frictions helped his arms, Eddie noticed that Buck was still rubbing is hands together, bringing them up to his mouth to breath hot air on them. Because his hands were warmer, the brunet covered both of Buck's hands with one of his own, trying to use his body heat to help provide warm and _Dios_ , his hands were so cold.

Buck moved his hands, wrapping both of his around Eddie's one and it didn't feel weird at all, or at least not to the brunet. It had been a while since Eddie had someone he was romantically attracted to hold his hand, but it didn't feel awkward nor did it make him want to rip his hand away immediately. It felt kind of nice.

Wait, pause.

Was Eddie romantically attracted to Buck?

He already knew he was sexually attracted to the man. He was gorgeous, confident and pretty charming. He stayed fit in the firehouse gym - when he wasn't busy taking pictures for his social media accounts - and those eyes could make anyone forget what they were saying.

But it wasn't just looks. Buck was a great guy. He was kind-hearted and was amazing at his job. Great with kids, especially Christopher. Hell, if Eddie was an outsider, he would've thought Buck was Christopher's father with the amount of love he had for the little guy. He could cook. He was always there even when you didn't want him to be because he seemed to always know when something was wrong. The worst part was that even when you didn't want to talk about it, you always did because that was just the type of person was. Easy to talk to and always there to listen (not including the law suit issue of course).

The sound of cheers and clapping pulled Eddie from his thoughts. Four of the performers were skating around each other, completing synchronized stunts that were definitely a lot more difficult and dangerous than it looked. Eddie turned his head towards Buck who was now absentmindedly tracing patterns on Eddie's hand now that his own were warm. 

That, too, felt nice.


End file.
